Chapter 7 - THE BLUE WINTER COAT
Vanessa almost fell into the study as the doors swung open.
She caught her balance, her red dress torn at the shoulder, her hair completely unraveled. She looked like a madwoman.
Luca was standing right behind her, his chest heaving, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles were bruised.
“Emily!” Luca shouted, rushing forward to shield me and Noah.
“Give me the boy!” Vanessa shrieked, trying to push past Luca. “I have legal rights!”
“You have nothing!” I yelled over her.
I slammed the laptop onto a side table in the hallway and turned the volume all the way up.
“Mr. Moretti, listen to this!” I said, and I hit the spacebar to play the audio file again.
The chaotic hallway fell dead silent as Claire’s weak, raspy voice echoed off the walls.
Vanessa froze. The color drained from her face so fast she looked like a corpse.
Luca stood perfectly still, listening as his dying wife revealed the location of the embezzled bank statements.
Then came the sounds of the struggle.
And finally, Vanessa’s cold, cruel voice on the recording: “In a year, he won’t even remember your name. And your son will call me Mother.”
The audio clicked off.
The silence in the hallway was terrifying.
Luca slowly turned his head to look at Vanessa.
“You’re on tape,” Luca whispered. His voice wasn’t angry anymore. It was completely hollow, which was infinitely more frightening. “You assaulted my wife on her deathbed. And you confessed to stealing charity funds.”
Vanessa began backing away, her heels clicking rapidly on the marble floor.
“That’s a fake!” she stammered, shaking her head wildly. “Matteo made that up! AI technology! It’s not real!”
“We’ll let the FBI decide that,” Matteo Ferretti said, stepping out from the dining room with his cell phone pressed to his ear. “I just called them, Mrs. Bellini. They are very interested in offshore Cayman accounts.”
Vanessa let out a strangled cry.
She turned and sprinted toward the front doors.
“Let her go,” Luca commanded when two of his security guards moved to intercept her. “The police will pick her up at the gate.”
He didn’t care about her anymore.
Luca turned and dropped to his knees in the hallway.
He opened his arms.
Noah ran out from behind me and crashed into his father’s chest.
Luca buried his face in his son’s neck, breaking down into deep, racking sobs. “I’m so sorry, Noah. I’m so sorry I brought her into our home. I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you.”
“It’s okay, Daddy,” Noah cried, wrapping his little arms around Luca’s neck. “Mommy saved us.”
I stood there, watching them, my own tears spilling over my cheeks.
I carefully stepped back, wanting to give them privacy.
But as I moved away, Luca reached out and grabbed my wrist.
Not in anger, like Vanessa had.
But with overwhelming desperation.
“Don’t go,” Luca whispered, looking up at me with red, tear-filled eyes.
“Sir, you need time with your son,” I said softly.
“No,” Luca said, his voice cracking. He stood up, lifting Noah into his arms. “You saved us, Emily. If you hadn’t spoken up about the first film... if you hadn’t found this USB drive... she would have taken my son.”
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He looked at me, truly seeing me for the first time. Not as a maid in a black and white uniform, but as a protector.
“Please,” Luca asked softly. “Help me find Claire’s blue coat.”
